Baby Cross

Baby Cross
To avoid parents re-using too many baby clothes for a new arrival, shrewd marketing has convinced us to buy pink outfits for baby girls and blue for boys.

In the pre-pink/blue era, white was the usual choice, and it made economic sense to use pre-worn baby and toddler outfits for new family members, whatever their sex. Then came an anonymous marketeer's Bright Idea, with no regard to the stereotyping problems that would inevitably follow.

It's unlikely a baby boy or girl reacts differently to blue or pink. It's equally unlikely that babies know anything about crosses, baptism or Christening ceremonies. But the clever marketeers do know!

A small cross is often placed on a child's cot or bedroom wall after he or she has been Christened. The cross takes on various names including: Baby Cross, Christening Cross, Cradle Cross and Infant Cross. The cross may include an image of a cute baby, often in a praying position, with or without angel wings. Alternatively, it may be a chunky toy-like cross in pink or blue, depending of the baby's sex.

Babies know nothing about crosses and ceremonies. So why do we bother?

Proponents of infant baptism (perhaps 80% of all Christians) believe that it doesn't really matter whether or not the child understands what is happening. They believe the ceremony replaces the circumcision referred to in the Old Testament as an appropriate initiation into the Christian community. Since we all inherit 'original sin', parents have a duty to their children to baptize them as soon as practicable to receive God's grace.

Opponents (including Baptists and Pentecostals) generally don't baptize infants because they believe that a person must desire baptism for it to have any effect.

Whatever the denomination, when the person grows and makes the personal choice whether to sin afresh, then it's that person's responsibility to ask for God's forgiveness.

Harmless or harmful gesture?

See Lucky Charms

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